JAC : A Journal Of Composition Theory ISSN : 0731-6755
FEMINISTIC ANGUISH IN THE NOVELS OF SIVASANKARI’S BRIDGES AND ANITA NAIR’S LADIES COUPE: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Ms. M. Nathiya, Assistant Professor, Department of EFL, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Ramapuram Campus, Chennai-89.
Abstract
Indian Writing in English is a vast area today, with several new trends Emerging new
talents making their mark, new creative and critical branches spreading in different directions.
Indian writing in English is getting critical responses all over the world. Indian English is
fiction expresses the Indian sensibility in a remarkable way. Indian writers like Raja Rao, Mulk
Raj Anand, R.K.Narayan, Bhabani Bhattacharya and others. The post-independence india
witnessed a spout of fiction writing women writers of greater quality and depth. Some of the
most outstanding woman novelists are Sashi Despande, Mehta, Anita Nair, Anita Desai.
Comparative literature is a study in terms of comparisons and contrasts of similarities and
dissimilarities of literature and cultures and countries more than one in order to contribute to the
mutual appreciation of literary experiences of various peoples. No doubt it is a part of literature
history concerning different literary trends of varying national backgrounds. It is also a collection
of theories arising out of the existing literary practices and conventions independent and
therefore not borrowed from other nations and cultures. Lastly, Comparative literature by itself is
creative, not a mere extension of the field of literary criticism. Since comparativism is
independent of traditional criticism.
Anita Nair narrates her stories from a wide variety of perspectives, concentrating
upon the concept of self within a large society. She has a special eye on characters who are
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adventures and explorers, rather than refugees and outcastes and are part and parcel of the
new changing society. Anita Nair concentrated on the emotional, intellectual and physical
responses of a group of characters when they are placed in a situation not routine to them.
She feels that psychic violence leaves a stronger impact on than mind then physical violence
on the body. Therefore, her women characters make for interesting psychological studies.
There is a continuous urge in her women to build up their fragmented life and to express their
affirmation to life. True enough, while they attempt to do so, they appear abnormal in their
behavior but this is only a bid to live life on their own terms.
In the novel Bridges the female characters are always follows the tradition and
superstitious beliefs through that they suffered a lot even though they suffered they are not
oppose the customs of their generations. And they all follows the words of male of their
family and gave them more important. The novel Bridges consists of three generations of
female characters. Each generation is different from one another. But all the generations the
female characters are treated like the same. In the first generation 1907-1931 the character
Sivakammu suffered because of the family members because they compelled her to follow
the beliefs. Then in the second generation the character Mythili even though her husband was
against the beliefs her family members are not accept it so she also follows the beliefs of her
elders.
Feminism is, indeed, a serious attempt to analyze, comprehend and clarify how
and why feminity or the feminine sensibility is different from masculinity or the masculine
experience. The term Feminism has its origin from the Latin word Femina meaning
Woman and thereby refers to the advocacy of woman’s rights, status and power. The term
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Feminism is an ideology in the making. According to Oxford English Dictionary, the term
Feminism was used in the latter part of the nineteenth century and it means having the
qualities of females.
Anita Nair is a renowned Indian English writer. She is a fine writer with a great
sense of characters, a vivid knowledge of Indian Culture and an eye for telling detail. She
was born at Shornur in the state of Kerala. Among various Indian writers, Anita Nair is
easily accepted as an efficient Practitioner of the gem of fiction. Her books are set in the
everyday world of India. Nair mesmerizes the reader with her evocative language and
descriptions in which her novels abound. For Nair, Kerala is the source of inspiration,
weakness and strength.
Anita Nair (born January 26, 1966) is an Indian English Language writer. Nair
was born in Shornur in the state of Kerala. Nair was educated in Chennai (Madras) before
returning to Kerala, where she gained a BA in English Language and Literature. She lives
in Bangalore. Nair was working as the creative director of an advertising agency in
Bangalore when she wrote her first book, a collection of short stories called Satyr of the
Subway, which she sold to Har-Anand Press. The book won her a fellowship from the
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Nair's second book was published by Penguin India,
and was the first book by an Indian author to be published by Picador USA. A bestselling
author of fiction and poetry, Nair's novels The Better Man and Ladies Coupe have been
translated into 21 languages.
In, 2002, Ladies Coupe was elected as one of the five best in India. The novel is
about women's conditions in a male dominated society, told with great insight, solidarity
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and humour. The novel Ladies Coupe is about the story of a woman's search for strength
and independence. Meet Akhilandeshwari, Akhila for short: forty-five and single, an
income-tax clerk, and a woman who has never been allowed to live her own life - always
the daughter, the sister, the aunt, the provider. Until the day she gets herself a one-way
ticket to the seaside town of Kanyakumari, gloriously alone for the first time in her life and
determined to break free of all that her conservative Tamil Brahmin life has bound her to.
In the intimate atmosphere of the ladies coupé which she shares with five other women,
Akhila gets to know her fellow travelers.
The protagonists and other five women characters not only endure life’s hardships
stoically but in the process also emerge stronger, providing sustenance and equilibrium to the
entire community. On the contrary, they are docile and submissive and they suffered because
of rape abortion, madness, betrayal and we can see that how each one copes with them.
Janaki, the oldest of them, a dutiful wife says, “I am a woman who has always been looked
after. First there ways my father and my brothers; then my husband. When my husband is
gone, there will be my son. Waiting to take off from where his father left off. Women like me
end up being fragile”. (22)
Anita Nair’s characters strive to attain their space in a male congested society.
Margaret emerges as a complex blend of the ‘silent women’ and ‘rebellious woman’. Her
individual identity was controlled by her husband. Making her toy with the idea of revenge
tired of her husband’s domination, she seeks freedom in an unusual fashion. She feeds her
husband with irresistible delicacies, she feeds him, until he is fat thereby reducing him to a
caricature of his former self.
Prabhadevi is a typical example of a woman who loses her identity and a sense of self
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worth several years down the marriage line. It is one day, while watching the swimming pool
that she decides to again be her own self. As she slides into the swimming pool, the water
touches her body and she gets a feeling of liberation. For too long she had denied herself the
pleasure of being herself. Nair bring out the urge present in every woman to experience
liberty and freedom.
Marikolunthu, another passenger in coupe, admits that she was raped. Though no fault
of hers she was blamed and traumatized for making herself available. She decides to fight
back, takes revenge and feels relaxed and content. In spite of the onslaughts of the fate
Marikolunthu emerges as a strong independent woman trying to strike an equilibrium in her
otherwise chaotic life.
Akhila ponders on all the stories that she has feared, yet undecided about her line of
action. Was she to follow Sheela Vasudevan, a young girl of 14 who understood the meaning
of liberty and did exactly what she wanted? Akhila was suddenly struck by the condition of
individual lives. This sets Akhila thinking that the other women are merely patterns of
consciousness of a single psyche. All these women, in one way or another advise Akhila to
go against social pressures and to discover herself. All of them are mates not only in her
physical journey in the ladies compartment of the train, ladies coupe but also in her spiritual
and psychological journey.
The answer to the question whether a woman can survive alone, is yes, she can, the
security provided by marriages is illusory. Women must be courageous and claim their own
lives and possibilities. The coupe becomes a metaphor for a utopian world that is liberated
from patriarchy, one that is not characterized by false binaries. In the novel ‘Ladies Coupe’,
Nair has created Akhila’s character which is universal. Akhila symbolizes the Indian woman
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whose inner strength when evoked can be an epitome of strength and courage.
Sivasankari (born October 14, 1942) is a popular Tamil writer and
activist. She is one of the four Tamil writers asked by the United States Library of Congress
to record their voice as part of the South Asian article on Sivashankari. Sivasankari was born
in Madras. One of her novels was made into the film 47 Natkal (1981) directed by
K.Balachandar and starred Chiranjeevi and Jayaprada. She is author of the novel,
which was made into a TV series called as Subah on Doordarshan in 1987.
Bridges is a saga of three generations of upper caste Tamil women. The novel gives
the reader rare glimpses into customs and traditions typical of each period it covers - with
an unjaundiced eye, great attention to detail, compassion and humor. The women in Bridges
are the central figures in the novel - are quite often strong characters. Even the orthodox
widow of the early part of the 20th century, with her blind acceptance of hidebound belief
systems and rituals, emerges as a personality in her own right, a sense of duty and devotion
to family underlying her every action. Each succeeding generation of women is stronger and
more emancipated than the previous one. The story spans nearly a century and although its
women have different life experiences, the leitmotif is the strength that runs through all of
them, making each react with courage and dignity to whatever life offers. The men too
provide an interesting mix of characters, each a product of his time and milieu. In the
process of telling this compelling family history, Sivasankari succeeds in capturing the
many nuances of the lifestyles of the times.
In this novel also we have three generation of women and they followed the customs and
tradition of their tradition. And in this novel also the female characters are suffered by the male
and mother in laws domination. Especially in first generation the character Sivakammu suffered
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a lot because of her mother in law because her mother in law insists her follow the tradition
perfectly and she says her to follow the words of male of her family. Then in second generation
we have Mythili she also suffered not by her husband but by her mother in law and grandmother.
Because when her husband allows her to free her mother doesn’t allow her and she always insists
her to do the rituals of their family. Then we have the third generation in that the character Charu
always suffered by her husband so she decided to free from him and she get divorce from him
and settled down in Poona. Where she lives lonely with her child and her aunt namely Vimala
insists her to do the traditional works.
Through this three family Sivasankari the author explain the concept of feminism.
The character Charu lives her life lonely in Poona and her child lives life modernity there.
And we can compare this third generation with Ladies Coupe because in Ladies Coupe the
Character Akhila first suffered a lot and she always help her family but no one care about her.
Same like in Charu’s life she suffered a lot by her husband then she decided to lead her life
Independently. Same like Akhila at the end of the novel she also decided to lead her life
independently.
Bridges represents male domination and also the rituals and superstitious beliefs where as
Ladies Coupe fully represents the male domination so Anita Nair writes about the sympathy of
women, which made by men in our society. Even though the women are in the 20th century they
follows the superstitious beliefs it cause them a difficult situation but they didn’t come out of
that. We think that women has developed fast, we do not know that how many women are
suffered by men. Even though they suffered they do not have the brave to say about their
sufferings openly because of our customs and culture not only men woman also be against of
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another woman in our society. We expect that the society should be help to develop the life of
women and also give safe to the women.
Works Cited:
Bhaskar A. Shukla. Feminism and Female Writers. Jaipur: Book enclave, 2007.
Tandon, Neeru. Feminism A Paradigm Shift. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers and
Distributors Pvt. Ltd., 2008.
Balakrishnan, Anita. Transforming Spirit of Indian Women Writers. New Delhi: Author
Press, 2012.
www.mouthshut.com/ review/ ladies coupe-Anita Nair-review-orrqsstrp.html.
www.mouthshut.com/ review/ ladies coupe-Anita Nair-review-orrqsstrp.html.
www.anitanair.net/novels/lc/article/_ladies coupe.html.
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